Please feel free to use it  as an example for your own comments, but please DO NOT copy directly from this text - individual responses are encouraged.

We would welcome any comments to our own submission, to THE SECRETARY, thank you. 

To: Planning Department

Sheffield City Council

(For: Examination of SHELAA Site S03006 — Planning Reference EXAM 130b)

Re: Formal Objection to Proposed Housing Development North of Totley Brook (Site S03006)

Dear Sir or Madam,

We are writing to register our strong objection to the potential allocation of land north of Totley Brook - running from the bottom of Totley Hall Lane to Totley Brook - for housing development, as identified under Sheffield planning reference EXAM 130b and SHELAA site reference S03006.

S03006 Land to the north of Totley Brook Site was originally appraised but not shortlisted.

Before moving on to state our response to your Suitability Assessment Criteria we would refer you to relevant sections the updated Environmental Improvement Plan 1^st December 2025:

Chapter 1: Restore Nature

where the government clearly states:

We will create a network of bigger, better and more resilient habitats to help nature thrive.

We want people to hear birdsong in their neighbourhoods and see wildlife in our landscapes. We want everyone, regardless of where they live, to be able to experience nature.

Building on the land you have earmarked for development will harm the habitat we are trying to protect and develop in line with government aspirations.

Chapter 5: Access to Nature

We are committed to our protected landscapes becoming greener and wilder whilst making them accessible.

Spending time in nature improves physical and mental health, lowering the risk of obesity and reduces blood pressure (Links between natural environments and physical health, Natural England 2022).

DISTANCE TO CORE PUBLIC TRANSPORT NETWORK (CPTN): Not suitable

The site is up to 1200m from the Core Public Network and there is no plan to improve public transport or to encourage cycling in the area. The 97 service is notoriously poor forcing residents to drive which raises the key problem of accessibility.

Accessibility

Totley Hall Lane is wholly unsuitable as an access route for any new housing development on this site:

• The lane is only wide enough for one car at a time, with no safe passing points along much of its length

• Increased traffic would create regular bottlenecks and potential conflicts between vehicles, walkers, cyclists, and horse riders.

• Emergency services access is already highly constrained, and any additional pressure could compromise emergency response times and public safety.

• The geometry of the lane, its narrow width, and its rural character make road widening physically impractical without significant environmental damage and the loss of hedgerows, trees, and wildlife habitat.

Given these constraints, Totley Hall Lane cannot support the transport or emergency access requirements for a new housing development. The lack of a viable, safe access route alone is sufficient grounds for removing the site from consideration.

Parking is already difficult – note also that there is a popular park/playing field adjacent to the propose site. On busy sports days the Lane is clogged with parked cars.

AVAILABILITY OF LOCAL FACILITIES AND EDUCATION CAPACITY :

 As you correctly state, the local schools are full. 

NO COMMUNITY/LEISURE/RECREATION FACILITIES ON-SITE :

The site is itself a leisure facility!

The fields indicated on your map abut and are part of an ancient wood – Gillfield Wood – of great importance for its history and wildlife.

LOSS OF ON-SITE OPEN SPACE, SUFFICIENCY OF OPEN SPACE IN THE SURROUNDING AREA AND IMPACT ON LOCAL GREEN SPACES.

The area in question is a wide open space crossed by Public Right of Way paths leading into the wood along the Totley Brook, out the other side into Holmesfield Parish. Last year, 40 tonnes of material, funded by a grant from Farming in a Protected Landscape (FiPL) was laid to maintain these paths. The main work was carried out by the your own Woodland Rangers with the help of FoGW volunteers to ensure people could more easily access the wood and its environs.

In this space there are a number of ancient trees and hedges including a very old oak and a wildlife pond. Although the site is not on an official Green Space list, it closely abuts and is connected to Gillfield Wood which is (See Sheffield Green Spaces Forum).

Every day, all the year round, dozens of people walk down Totley Hall Lane, take the paths across the site to enter and enjoy Gillfield Wood and it’s environs.

Several times a year, Friends of Gillfield Wood organise outdoor events: bird and butterfly spotting, fungi foraging, river dipping, mammal trapping and evening bat walks all of which help to broaden children’s (and their parents) appreciation of nature.

Walks led by local historians highlight the fascinating story of this ancient landscape (see our web site), expeditions led by environmentalists introduce people of all ages to the flora and fauna of this richly diverse habitat.

Housing development would introduce light spill, noise, domestic pets, and increased footfall, all of which degrade ancient woodland edges. The NPPF states that development resulting in deterioration of ancient woodland should be refused unless wholly exceptional circumstances exist, which they do not.

Please also note - the life and health of Gillfield Wood is already under threat since SCC Planning Dept. granted planning permission to built on Dyson Refractories site on Baslow road. These premises sit directly opposite the west end of Gillfield wood. Despite objections from many sources: the Eastern Moors Partnership, the Coal Authority, Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust and many more, permission was granted and we fear that the life at that end of the woodland will be compromised.

If development also goes ahead here, the impact will be additional damage done to the central section of the wood too. 

 IMPACT ON RURAL LANDSCAPE CHARACTER:

 We concur with your own assessment that the Landscape has low capacity for absorbing development, largely because of Access and Highways Constraints on Totley Hall Lane.

 ARCHAEOLOGY CONSTRAINTS :

In 2013 FoGW in collaboration with experts from South Yorkshire Econet and Sheffield University carried out a thorough archaeological and historical survey of the whole wood and surrounding hedgerows. Archaeological features were mapped highlighting the wood’s importance for industry.

They discovered not only that the wood had once extended out into these fields, but also how important it was for Totley and Sheffield’s lead industry - fuelling it. The footpaths were once used to transport whitecoal to Totley’s smelting mills. This is woodland and industrial archaeology. Do refer to our publication Gillfield Wood: the story of an ancient wood at Totley and contact Totley History Group for further information.

IMPACT ON HERITAGE ASSETS :

Clearly this is a Heritage Site. Please refer to our publication Reconstructing Gillfield Wood’s Historical Setting: Water Wood and Wildlife (2017) produced in conjunction with Sheffield Hallam University. Recordings of life in and around the wood date back as far as 1574.

IMPACT ON ECOLOGY/LOCAL NATURE RECOVERY NETWORKS:

ECOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE AND BIODIVERSITY LOSS:

This land forms part of an important ecological corridor linking Totley Brook, Gillfield Wood, and surrounding Green Belt. Surveys conducted by FoGW have identified a rich network of habitats supporting:

• Priority bird species dependent on woodland and meadow edges.
• Protected mammals such as bats and badgers using the brook and woodland margins as foraging and commuting routes.
• Diverse invertebrates and ground flora that require stable, undisturbed conditions.

FLOOD RISK:

 In Conclusion

The aim of The Friends of Gillfield Wood is to improve the green space known as Gillfield Wood (see the map on our leaflet) and the surrounding areas in Totley, Yorkshire and Holmesfield, Derbyshire. We fulfill this aim in many diverse ways, conservation, education and improvement but this aim is primarily achieved through local people being engaged in protecting the area we love and value.

Sealing in vast areas of soil and creating high levels of air, noise and light pollution next to ancient woodland would undermine all our combined efforts to contributions to nature.

We hope that you will appreciate this value and help us to conserve it.